Cashin used a classic colloquialism for unofficial wall Street consensus to voice his caution:

"On the charts, on the cocktail napkins, the market looks quite vulnerable here."

"We're concerned they've broken out of a so-called head-and-shoulders* formation. I'd be a little wary" of stocks right now, he said.

Cashin pointed to upcoming housing data as a cause for concern.

He weighed in on reports that lender CIT Group, the "smallest stock" on the S&P 500, is asking regulators to increase liquidity.

"It's a lifeline to a lot of [smaller] companies. Even if they're saying it doesn't pose systemic risk, at a time when they're talking about taking TARP money to help small businesses, it'd be ironic to let CIT go under, since they do help small businesses."